The impact of male migration on rural families a case study of rural area in Jaffna

Abstract:

Male migration can play a key role in rural due to their family development at
household level in rural area in Sri Lanka. The end of the three decade long civil war in Sri Lanka was
declared in May 2009. During the war and its related processes resulted in significant levels of male
migration and concerning the impact of high levels on rural community. Nevertheless, at present male
migration from rural to outside of country is significantly an event of rural area in Sri Lanka. Given
this social context, this study especially focuses on two major components such as male migration and
rural families. Under these components, this research attempts to understand how various forms of
male migration and their impact on families in a rural community by particularly focusing on the rural
spaces. In this research, primary data were collected from a sample of 63 rural family’s respondents in
the selected rural of Sri Lanka, Kaithady, Jaffna. The results of the study confirm a significant
difference in the perceptions on male migration among rural families. The most influential socioeconomic
factors affecting the male migration in rural are; age, education level, number of members
in the family and gender role in rural area. The results of the study further reveal that the reasons for
male migration from rural to outside of Sri Lanka were not only economic reason but it were related
to some security reasons. Also, the male migrations give a social and economic mobility of the rural
families in different scales.